That Shadowy Figure
by Tried Hemlock Once
Summary: Eve is very proud of her latest creation. How will the Winchester boys and their cohorts make their next moves on God's chess board? Let's find out together, shall we?
1. Say Goodbye to Your Life, Hunter-At-Arms

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Supernatural, and I think, _damn it_.

A/N: No pairing established as of yet. Tell me if you'd like one. By the way, I made a few corrections to this chapter and am in the process of reviewing the second chapter and writing the third.

**That Shadowy Figure**

_Chapter One: Say Goodbye to Your Life, Hunter-At-Arms_

Trust in the Winchester brothers to send trouble towards any non-human in a 100-mile radius of where they stand. But it wasn't Sam and Dean that were giving a certain creature a wild chase that night, oh no, but another, much less skilled hunter.

A black wraith swept through the woods of North Dakota, going in an out of focus the faster it traveled. The creature was more than a blur but less than a fully formed figure, at least most of the time. Right then, as it finally ceased all movement and faced its pursuer, the being looked like a shadow without a face and only half-developed extremities. It was slowly beginning to assume a more human form.

The hunter could only stare in awe as the shadow before him rapidly changed into the form of a woman. Without pause, the woman sprouted the teeth of a bloodsucker, gave a sad smile, and lept at the hunter's throat, releasing a bestial snarl.

Though he was not a very experienced hunter, the man moved quickly away from the shards that were the woman's teeth and scrambled for his machete that he had stored, quite stupidly, deep in the recesses of his duffel of hunting paraphernalia. He took the machete in hand and looked up to see the bloodsucker headed for him again. After a short struggle, the hunter made a final swipe with his blade at the creature's neck. The hunter did not see the head fall to the ground, nor the body. Instead, _he_ fell to the ground, his machete landing a few meters away. As he fell, the hunter watched in surprise as the woman's figure faded to darkness, with only a trace of the creature's prior self-evident in that there was a gap where the machete had sliced between the still vaguely humanoid shadow's body and head.

Before the his head was severed from the rest of his body by some unknown force, the hunter caught a glimpse of the shadow—now a formless cloud of black smoke—disappearing beneath the brush. The hunter's head fell upon the leaves and his body went limp. He did not have a last thought, only a very bad feeling, and he was gone…

…At least for a while. The hunter did not know how much time has passed but, suddenly, he was overcome with a sort of bodiless, immaterial feeling. He felt a bit inebriated, actually. "It will pass," a voice said. He maneuvered himself around, searching anxiously for the source of the voice. "The ill, maladjusted feeling, I mean. It will pass. Best to stop doing that, though, you'll just get dizzy." The voice paused as if by coming to a realization. "Ah, of course, you can't see me yet. None of the others could at first either."

"There have been others? What exactly _are _you and what have you done to me?" The shadow foundling pulsed angrily, sending off waves and making the leaves around them flutter slightly.

The elder shadow drifted around the hunter turned beast. The voice emitted quietly from the whole of the shadow's non-being. "You must calm down or your condition will only escalate. Soon you will be just like me." The voice paused shortly, as if taking a breath, and carried on. "I did not kill you. You killed yourself. Allow me to expl—."

"Enough! I do not need to hear this from some- some monster!"

The voice sighed. "And, still, they don't listen. They sentence themselves to this, I swear." The voice carried on the wind as the shadow leisurely left the presence of the newest abomination. The shadowy stranger had to stop doing this, staying for the disappointment only to leave the problem untended.

The once hunter was left alone to sulk and, sure enough, the very next day, the hunter's shadow passed on the sickness to another unlikely fellow. The parent shadow drifted into an alley to find some momentary rest from the daily stresses of its existence. "I need a pet," the voice commented to itself before relaxing into the darkness.


	2. A Matter of Doing What You're Told

Disclaimer: No own Supernatural.

A/N: A small forewarning: updates will be sporadic. Thanks for reading. Reviews are most definitely welcome and appreciated. Also, a quick thanks to friend DarkWriter00 for reviewing and also Luna for giving some advice. Thanks!

**That Shadowy Figure**

_Chapter Two: A Matter of Doing What You're Told_

Two weeks passed until Bobby Singer caught onto the murders. It was a fascinating case because nearly half of the dead were hunters and the other half consisted mostly of supernatural creatures. _So_, _what kills both hunters and beasts?_ He thought of demons first and of Crowley, but Crowley was dead, burned up with his bones, and demons would have no reason to go after other creatures and start something. Then, he thought, it must be something they've never seen before. "Well, shit."

"A short call from Bobby to the Brothers and the two were on route to the location of the most recent killing. It was a werewolf, the boys concluded after minute investigation, which laid there upon the gravel surrounded by yellow police tape. It seemed to have been attacked by another of its kind, as its body was shredded from shoulder to groin by what looked like claws.

As the brothers finished up at the crime scene and made their way back to the Impala, Sam speculated aloud, "So, a killer that murders the victim…in the way that the victim would use to kill. First, the hunter in New York, killed by a bullet to the heart, apparently, but there was no bullet near the victim. There was, however, a casing left several meters away, bloodless. Following the first murder, a series of others followed, all with the same signs. Vamp's blood drained completely, bite marks at the neck; more hunters killed by their own weapons; and here, a werewolf torn apart by another werewolf."

Dean butted in, "Funny thing is: any possible murder weapons were clean of blood and the wounds themselves are…perfectly clean. No excess blood. Awesome."

"I guess we've got our work cut out for us." What they didn't realize was that a shadow was watching them from, well, the shadows. It was the parent shadow and it was very happy to see them.

* * *

That night, the brothers were resting in their motel room. Dean was slightly paranoid. "Sammy, you hear something?" The wind was whipping outside their motel room. Dean peered outside through the shades that covered the window. The streetlamps provided very little light but Dean could still see the tree by their window. He realized the sound had probably been the branches knocking against the glass. Then, a knock sounded at the door. Dean jerked back from the window and looked at the door with narrowed eyes, not moving to open it.

"You alright, Dean?" Sam asked, as he got up to check the door. Dean didn't respond. Sam opened the door to reveal a woman dressed in her work attire, polo and khakis that belonged quite obviously to the burger joint down the road.

"I need to talk to you, but I do not have much time," the woman said urgently. Dean moved to stand behind Sam in the doorway. Sam made a motion to invite her in, but the woman declined, saying, "No, that would not be a good idea." She continued. "The case you're on now is Eve's doing, at least in part. Eve created me and I am the parent of the rest of my kind."

Sam looked stricken. "What are you?"

"I am a shadow, as far as I'm concerned, but I am weak at night and must retire this vessel." The woman glanced at her nametag. "_Jenny_ should be in bed right now." The shadow started to back away. "I will try to talk to again, but you best get away from here before one of my children attack you."

Dean finally spoke. "Do you have a name?" He called out, but the question was asked just as the woman disappeared from sight. Then Dean said to Sam, "Do shadows even have names?" Sam merely shrugged.

* * *

Not ones to listen to advice, Sam and Dean stayed in the town for a few more days.

The parent shadow had been travelling abroad the past few days, its children just escaping its grasp. They were within its sights, though, and the parent shadow knew that one was headed back to Texas, where Sam and Dean were still residing. Conjuring a trick from its mind, the shadow entered the darkened alley behind a drugstore in Kentucky and emerged from the shadow of a supermarket in Texas. The parent shadow was very glad that its offspring had not caught up with its tricks yet.

The shadow quickly acquired a new vessel, a rather short and slim young man this time, and ran to the motel where the brothers resided. The vessel pounded on the door in urgency, which finally opened to reveal the elder of the two hunters. The vessel pushed his way inside, past Dean and Sam and into a rather small bathroom. The vessel started clawing at the mirror in front of the sink, trying to remove it, all the while speaking in haste. "One of the shadows is headed this way. It'll be here any minute. You, ox, help me with this mirror!" Neither Sam, nor Dean moved. "Hurry, I haven't got time for this!" Dean shut the door and, finally, Sam moved forward, but he didn't go for the mirror. He went for the vessel, shoving him against the wall and pinning him there, forearm to chest. "Explain yourself."

"You _do_ remember me, don't you? You must release me! I'm trying to save your lives."

"Why should we trust you?" Dean asked the vessel from his position behind Sam's shoulder.

The vessel clamped his mouth shut for a few moments, and then started again. "I was once human, not too long ago, in fact maybe three months now. I was married, I had two and a half kids, the white picket fence…I was comfortable and life was stable; I was even happy at times. Then, one day, this woman touched my shoulder—Eve, I later came to learn—and I fell down, dead. I became what I am now, something that's easy to call a shadow. And…I need you to trust me because I have retained at least some of my humanity and I am _trying_ to keep you _alive_ so that you can kill mommy dearest and find a way to control things like me! Now, will you release me so I can divert this particular shadow for the time being?" Sam retracted his arm and the vessel rested heavily against the wall. In a breathy voice, the vessel commanded: "Get the mirror."


	3. She's Lovely When You Get to Know Her

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Supernatural. I just enjoy writing.

A/N: Trying to focus on finals, so no new chapter for a while after this. Don't forget to review!

**That Shadowy** **Figure**

_Chapter Three: She's Lovely When You Get to Know Her_

* * *

_"Get the mirror."_

The vessel's eyes narrowed as it concentrated on the location of a particular shadow. A few tense moments passed, during which Sam held the mirror like the vessel had told him to, at eye level towards the door. The vessel opened its eyes, finally, and declared: "It's here." The brothers and the vessel watched as darkness with little form seeped through the crack under the door. Dean shifted in place and the vessel shot an indescribable look at him that effectively made him cease all movement.

Now, before their eyes, the blackness shifted into a vaguely humanoid creature. Sam watched from behind the mirror, curious. "Child," he could hear the vessel say somewhere behind him, "I realize that you cannot assume a form right now." This was, of course, because the shadow creature was only meant to face one person at a time. The creature became overwhelmed in the presence of three. "You must not scream at me; you must calm down and see yourself for who you are." Sam and Dean did not hear the screaming that the vessel spoke of. They felt like spectators to a show, like they couldn't do anything, an unfamiliar feeling. "Look in the mirror."

The three of them watched as the formless darkness before them suddenly started to waver. "What's happening to it?" The shadow's vessel allowed a wan smile. "It's old self is returning….She can see the monster she has become."

"A she? How can you tell?"

"I see her face." The vessel took the mirror from Sam and told the brothers to keep their eyes on the shadow. "I need to get her a vessel. The sun is quickly falling in the sky. She will be very week once this stops."

The parent shadow returned maybe ten minutes later with a young girl in his arms. It communicated silently with its child for a few moments before the blackness attached itself to the small child. "You should rest, Natalie," it told the little girl gently, and the girl smiled slightly before taking the younger brother's bed. The vessel turned to the Sam and Dean. "I am to understand that you probably have a few questions. Let me first give you a name to call me. My human name was Nikolai Wilco; do with it what you wish. Another thing: I reserve the right to not answer all of the questions you may ask. I have some sense of privacy."

"Fine." Dean glared at him then shifted his weight angrily. "How did you know to do the thing with the mirror?"

Nikolai smiled softly. "Because it worked on me. I saw myself in a mirror after the first two killings. After that, I made quite the effort to find ways to control this curse."

"Have you found a way to kill your kind?"

"Dean!" Sam interrupted.

"Have you?" Dean insisted.

"No, I have not. Let me explain to you just what this curse is so that you can understand, _Dean_. When a person sees us and we see them, we take on the form of the person or thing that that person hates most. They usually try to kill us, but, when they make that fatal strike, they fall dead instead and become one of us: young, naïve, and ravenous. Some are now like me, more controlled. The sight of ourselves leaves us temporarily subdued and we can think rationally for a time. I made the most out of my rationality; most of my children don't."

Sam spoke this time as Dean sorted some the thoughts whirling in his mind. "How do you control it?" Sam, ever the sensible one.

Nikolai cast his eyes upon Sam then moved to take a seat next to the sleeping child, across from Sam, who had taken it upon himself to sit on Dean's bed. "I am strong enough during the day to resist the urges that Eve pushes upon me; but, at night, when the lights go out, shadows lose out to genuine darkness." He saw Sam's eyebrows furrow. "Shadows need light to exist, Sam. Because of this I am weak at night and therefore less able to resist Eve's purpose for my kind. I must take a vessel at night to ensure I am not overcome by gruesome temptation." Sam nodded mutely in some sort of understanding. Dean seemed to be lost in thought from where he stood across the room. His eyebrows were furrowed and his brow creased.

The lot of them sat in silence for what must have been a good five minutes. Sam broke the silence with one last question, at least for the night. "What are you going to do now?"

"Well, I'll help Natalie along for awhile. After her, I plan to move on to stabilizing the rest of my children in any way I can. Then, unless you have other plans, I am going to go after my mother and attempt to gut her." Nikolai uttered these words in such a gentle tone that the brothers were at least mildly surprised when Nikolai made his last declaration. "What will you do, Sam and Dean? Continue on your hunts, I expect, and search for a way to kill Eve."

"Yeah, probably," Sam responded, training his sights upon the sleeping child that lie on the bed next to Nikolai. "Would you mind if we called in a friend of ours to talk to you before you go? He may have some answers for you."

"And no doubt some questions as well. Yes, that should be fine. He's not going to try to kill me, is he?"

"No more than we will," Dean said, finally rejoined the conversation. He had been sulking to himself for awhile at that point. "Okay," Dean closed his eyes and tilted his head up to face the ceiling (and supposedly the heavens), "I pray to Cas who art in Heaven…."

"Hello, Dean." The trench-clad angel appeared behind Dean, shocking him like always and making the man jolt slightly in place. Dean made to face him, about to—"Why have to called for me?" Then the angel noted the spares in the room, taking their figures in turn and finally resting his eyes upon the still conscious of the two. "A friend of your's?"

"Not exactly, Cas," Dean responded. "More like a problem that needs solved."

Nikolai winced and cast his eyes down to examine the face of the vessel that held Natalie. _Monsters have feelings too, Dean_, he wanted to say, but hesitated instead and uttered different words. "Cas, is it?" Nikolai looked up at the man in the trenchcoat behind Dean. "My name is Nikolai Wilco and some bitch named _Eve_ is on the top of my to kill list. Nice to meet you. Dean said you might want to talk to me before I go off to stitch some wounds."

The angel looked at Nikolai for a long moment with penetrating eyes that did nothing for his comfort. "Dean, Sam, you do not know what he is?" Castiel looked at both of the brothers in turn, both of whom shook their heads. The angel continued slowly. "In Heaven, we call things like him umbras. When the earth and her people were ancient, umbras were feared only for the mares they placed in childrens' heads at night. But now..." Castiel's expression took on a darker tinge, "Eve has changed them into something more vile and dangerous. Her imagination will not go unpunished."

"Wait, Cas-" The angel was gone before they knew it. "Damn it," Dean cursed and marched to the door, opening and slamming it closed, with the words "going for a walk" tossed over his shoulder at Sam.

* * *

A/N: "umbra" is Latin for "shadow"- trying to make naming a creature easy on myself, jeez


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